Time and Oak Test

Whiskey is _______. I'll let you fill in the blank. For me its an acquired tasted. Bourbon. Scotch. Sour Mash. Irish. Blended. Single Malt. They all have so many subtleties. I could write about them forever and never finish. Sometimes though, you want that 10 or 12 year old scotch but you only have the scratch for a bottle of Johnny Red. What to do? Well some fellows out in Portland decided to figure it out. Using science and their own taste buds they figured it out. You can check it it their Kickstarter project here.

So once they got their funding they setup and started producing thier "whiskey elements." Somewhere along the line I found their website and ordered the Multi-elements pack. 2 Maple or Signature elements, 2 Smoke and Oak, and 2 Wine cask elements. If you want you can order yours here

They came in today's mail and I just had to give them a try. I bought a bottle of Wild Turkey 81 proof and set the elements to work.

Then as I sat here listening to Jamey Johnson and, well "testing" the Wild Turkey "gobble, gobble," (I needed a good baseline to work off of...) I thought "What if I tried these elements in some gin?"

I keep a bottle of relatively inexpensive gin in the house... I do have the Tanqueray for martinis, but a good gin is no use in a gin n tonic. New Amsterdam is a relatively inexpensive gin however not cheap like Seagram's. It has a decent enough juniper flavor and some nice enough citrus flavors that it works with tonic.

In a couple of days I'll have an answer to my "What if..."

I'll keep you posted...

"Dinner & Drinks" or "Drinks & Dinner"?

Sometimes I have a drink with dinner and sometimes I have dinner with my drink...

It might sound a little funny but what we drink has an influence on what we are eating... and vice versa! The textures and flavors of our food have so much to do with the experience of eating why not the aromas and sweetness of a drink, floral spiciness and aromatic brightness of gin or the oaky mellowness of a good rye or bourbon?

Sometimes the medicinal tangy-ness (is that a word?) of a gin and tonic while refreshing on a warm summer day is also the perfect foil for a well seasoned skewer of shrimp, or just right to cut through the fatty aftertaste of a grilled halibut steak.

A good friend of mine an Irishman (bless his heart) thinks Bushmills is perfect with everything. Is that because he likes Bushmills? Or because he just has a diet that pairs well with Bushmills? I'm not sure but I do know (thanks to him) I'm more of a Power's man myself...

Cherry lime caipirinhas

Recently my summer cocktail has become a variation on the Caipirinha. As I enjoyed these before with the grilled meats of Brazil & Argentina known as churrascaria I automatically associate caipirinhas with grilled meats and even barbecue. When you think about it, that makes sense. Consider the smoky flavors of the oak grilled barbeque of Texas or the mesquite flavor imparted to the sirloin the Brazilians call Picanha. Here in California we can get passable examples of both, but the caipirinha is the cocktail that bridges the gap in my mind. There is a slight smokiness that the liquor Cachaça imparts to the drink, then there is the fruitiness of the drink no matter the variation makes it a great set of flavors to enjoy with any kind of grilled meat.

Another drink that has been one of my favorites is the Negroni. Equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, it truly is one of the simplest drinks to make yet it has some of the most complex flavors. I recently had this at Fishbar in Manhattan Beach, while it was a little disconcerting that I had to explain what was in it to the waiter, as I said it is simple enough to make, and easy to remember. I made this choice of a drink with my choice from the menu already in mind. As an appetizer I ordered the fried calamari, and for my entree, the grilled scallop skewer with garlic fries and sauteed spinach. Basically everything I ordered would taste good with my drink. The spice from the gin and the bitter of the Campari would offset the slight greasiness that comes anytime you have fried food, but the underlying layers of flavors in the drink, spice, bitter, and sweet, pair so well with fish that this is my go to drink when I'm having a dinner down by the bay or the beach.

Manhattan made with Knob Creek Bourbon

One of my all time favorite drinks is the Manhattan. This is another simple drink, bourbon or rye, sweet vermouth and just a splash of bitters. This drink goes so well with beef, but why? For me it's a memory, having dinner at Val's Steak House in Daly City or Joe's of Westlake was a short-lived tradition for me and some of my close friends. At the time Val's had one of the best bartenders, I never got his name but he knew mine and he knew my drink was a Manhattan. At the same time a rib eye was and still is my steak of choice, along again with some french fries and some steamed broccoli. The steaks at Val's were fire grilled, this grilling was a little different from the outdoor grilling that I talked about earlier, Brazilian and Argentinian grilling is often done on a spit, where this was hot direct heat with just the grill between the meat and the heat. Because it was cooked perfectly medium-rare this steak went so well with my drink, the smokiness of the oak of the bourbon and the spice in the vermouth went right along with the simply seasoned, perfectly seared steak. My mouth is watering just thinking back to those days. Around the same time I would regularly go out to Joe's of Westlake and have a Manhattan there with the Veal Parmigiana! Even if we were there for lunch we ordered the dinner portion with ravioli, or spaghetti! With the crusty French bread it was a wonderful carb on top of carb experience. But the Manhattan with the veal! To his day when I think of pairing food and cocktails, this is what I think back to. The ice cold, sweet, yet bracing bourbon, along with the breaded veal, and the barely acidic marinara... the creamy mozzarella... One set of flavors to sip and enjoy and the other to chew over and savor!

The last pairing I would think about is dessert and a cocktail. I'm talking more than adult chocolate milk here! About 10 years ago when I worked for Bevmo (back then it was Beverages & More) I was sent to a seminar at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, the seminar was on pairing food and cocktails. This seminar opened my eyes to the idea that food and cocktails could be paired. At the beginning the pairing of a gin and tonic with some pan seared salmon and sea beans got my attention, but the clincher was the dessert. A warm rum toddy, paired with the most perfect creme brûlée I had ever had. The rum toddy was warmed just to around 110 degrees and a stick of Ceylon cinnamon was used as a stirrer, the creme brûlée had the perfect balance of sweet and cream, along with a generous amount of vanilla that could clearly be seen as I took each bite, on top of it all the brûlée, the crust of melted and slightly scorched sugar. The rum, a spiced rum was the perfect partner and palate cleanser. As soon as I finished off the creme brûlée I realized that I had had the presence of mind to ration the toddy so that I had just enough to sip right through to the last bite of dessert. For me that was the most successful pairing of food and drink possible, one that brought out the nuances of each part and made it a whole and wonderful dessert.

So that is it, the pairing of food and drink might not be your priority, if you're a Bushmills type that eats meat and potatoes for every meal this doesn't matter! But if you want to try and pair the perfect cocktail with your meal think about why mimosas are so good with brunch, or why margaritas taste so good with that Mexican food. Or even why that light crisp lager tastes so good with Thai food? It's because the flavors were meant to go together!

So the next time you decide to have cocktail, ask first should I have dinner with my drink or should it be the other way around?

Local Eats Part I

Local eats are one of those things...

Either you know where to go or you don't. Personally I like the local joints near my place. Within walking distance from my house I can find cocktails and plenty of good grub, not just ethnic food but a variety of ethnic foods, tonkotsu ramen, vegetarian Indian curry, pho, teriyaki, Japanese curry, Hawaiian plate lunch, Korean fusion, did I leave anything out? Oh yeah Mexican, Cuban, Pastrami, Salvadoran, oh sushi, and several others that I can't even recall as I type this. 

Really my thing is your local eats are YOURS! Just like anything that is yours take care of it. I really do love going to Chinatown or Monterey Park for Chinese food or dim sum, or I love going across town for something that I think is funky or sounds tasty. The Oinkster in Eagle Rock has some great pastrami. But I have Johnnies right around the corner from me. I'm not saying it's the best but it is Westside and that makes it mine.

What really toasts my cookies is when neighborhood people tell me, "Oh that place is okay but this other place halfway across town (in a place YOU never go).... is better!" There is nothing wrong with that per se, I love to hear about new places, what is wrong to me is telling me without even trying the local place that your taste is better than mine!

Listen up its not!!!

All of that being said thanks for listening, now on to the restaurants!

My favorite local spot is near the corner of Washington and Sepulveda. Yamadaya Ramen is some great food. Tonkotsu Ramen is the be all and end all of ramen in my world. I grew up eating that ramen in freeze dried form with the packets, that was probably where I decided that I could be creative with food, I mean what 12 year old thinks, "Lemme boil these noodles then stir fry them." Yamadaya Ramen brings this to a whole other level for me. The 'tonkotsu' broth is made by taking pork bones and boiling them for hours and hours and hours before draining off the broth and using that as the base for your ramen noodles. The KICKER for me is the 'kakuni' braised pork belly cut into 4 oz slices. I won't even go into detail about the different versions of broth that you can get, needless to say its not your simple cup o' noodles.
Here is the link to my Yelp review so I don't get too verbose in here:
Yamadaya Yelp REVIEW

Samosa House
Let me begin this review by saying I am not a vegetarian! I have been in the past but I love meat too much. That having been said, this vegetarian food rocks. Every once in a while I go on a vegetarian kick, when I do this is where I go. Granted it can be expensive, but that's cause when you walk in you see all the stuff that looks good, Chile Pakora, Naan, Samosas, then you look at the steam table and end up ordering the combo plate on top of everything else I just mentioned that's when the bill adds up. The samosa here are the signature item. And the Naan is especially awesome when they take it right out of the oven.

Super Pho & Teriyaki

Yes pho and teriyaki in the same place. They also have some killer kim chee and Korean grilled pork, but I digress. For a good bowl of soup this is my second choice. The only reason it's second is that I don't like the "green medicine dispensary" next door. The pho broth is light and tasty here, it is the very opposite of the tonkostu broth at Yamadaya. The flavor of the herbs and spices permeate this dish. The star anise and pepper aren't overpowering but you know they are there. The teriyaki is done pretty well here too. The service did go down hill a little but the last time I went through there it was pretty good.

Mitsuwa

This place isn't a restaurant in and of itself but the food court is a good spot to get some grub. The vendors provide some decent variations on Japanese fast food. Santouka, Misasa, and Sanuki each do something a little differently, ramen, curry, tempura are the staples of the menus. Plenty of food but it's only for cold hard cash.

Rutt's

This is just a good place for what we imagine as Hawaiian food. The roast pork with gravy gets an honorable mention as one my favorite dishes. Not the best but right up there in the running. Royales (stir-fried rice dishes) are the breakfast of choice and the fench toast made with Kings Hawaiin bread is great. But the spam musubi is the best here.

Tito's Tacos
For me I often wonder what I did before I discovered Tito's! This is NOT Mexican food. This place is LA food! The greasy tacos, the blenderized salsa, the white paper bags filled with chips. As a little kid my Grandfather would take me to Jack in the Box for the tacos along the way to the Marina in San Francisco. Back then they were 4 of $1. It was a great memory that resurfaced the first time I ate at Tito's. The fried taco shell with the melted (or not so melted) American cheese slices. The chili with the chunks of beef, and then the burritos filled with that same chili and cheese. 

I'll continue this down the cause as you go down the road there is always a better place to eat!

Barrel Aged Cocktails

I sometimes laugh when I ask myself things like "Why am I the last to know about these things?" or "Why didn't anyone ever tell me about this?" And there are times when I just don't care, if its about fashion/style, you'll probably never get my attention, or even something like photography it might not even phase me that I don't know. But if its about food and drink then I have a problem!

All of that being said, why did I not know about "Barrel Aged Cocktails?" Or that they could be homemade?

One of my best friends gave me a Hudson River Barrel Aged Cocktail Kit (the kit from here on), and the results have been pretty cool. Not only that but it has given me some interesting ideas. The kit is an empty 375 ml bottle, a cork stopper and a honeycomb oak stave that has been charred. For $12.50 and shipping its a great gift. As the recipient I can say it's an awesome gift.

Now for the recipe, I use water for reasons I will disclose later, keep in mind the bottle is about 12 oz so you have space for the recipe below times 4 if each part is 1 oz. The recipe follows and I'll write more about the hooch later.

Barrel Aged Manhattan

1 part White Dog Mash #1
1 part water
1 part Cinzano white vermouth
4 dashes Fee Brothers barrel aged bitters
After thoroughly mixing the ingredients you pour the mix into the kit. Then comes the wait.
I noticed an amber hue after about three days, and the aroma began to resemble a "regular" Manhattan.

After about a week I poured the mix into my flask and have nipped at on occasion. 

To make my Barrel Aged Manhattan I decided to use Buffalo Trace White Dog Mash #1. It is a mouthful in more ways than one. At 125 proof I decided that water was needed to cut the proof of the White Dog.  Along with the "white whiskey" I decided that Cinzano White Vermouth was appropriate, too many times the sweetness of sweet vermouth overpowers the oak flavor of any bourbon. I just wanted a little sweetness to see how the charred oak would taste. Finally I used the Fee Brothers Barrel Aged bitters just for the heck of it.

That is basically it for the cocktail, but the whole process did give me other ideas.

I'm a sucker for a good cocktail but also for a good hot sauce. In the past couple of months I have been making different batches of hot sauce. Since I got the kit I thought, what would a barrel aged hot sauce taste like, should I use a fresh oak stave? Or should re-use a "white Manhattan" stave? What kind of peppers would work to make that taste good.

More cocktails came to mind, what about an oak aged martini, the earliest examples of jenever (the predecessor to modern gin) were aged in oak before being bottled. The only thing you shouldn't do is use acid or citrus to soak in the oak as it were. Another idea that came to mind was re-using an oak stave from the "white Manhattan" to flavor some tawny port or Marsala.

In any case, there are plenty of other ideas and I plan to buy some more oak  honeycomb staves to use in future projects. Please let me know if you decide to try this product and how you feel about the results in the comments area below.